David Heathcoat-Amory: The looming threat to our democracy

From an address by the former Conservative MP to Politeia, in London

Britain has never had a written constitution, even though the most famous one of all was written by American colonists who came from our own political stock. The principles of self-government and liberty under law were secured here by means other than through a written constitution.

From next year all this will change and we will import a written constitution from the European Union. It will define the limits of national power, list policy objectives which we must pursue, require loyalty and obedience to the Constitution, and assert the primacy of both the Constitution and its laws over the law of member states.

The implications for the way we are governed are enormous. There will be a transfer of responsibilities and powers to the Union on a scale far surpassing all the amending treaties of the past.

Such changes need the consent of the people. This need is widely recognised on the Continent, where support for national referendums goes right across the political spectrum, from ardent federalists to firm believers in the nation state.

I can argue with those whose vision of Europe is an integrated state, perhaps organised along federal lines. I disagree with them but I respect them. I do not respect those who pretend that the new European Constitution is only a tidying-up exercise. Nor do I respect those who then concede the importance of the issues but who refuse to let the people be the judge of their own rights.

There must be a referendum on the European Constitution, and I hope that all those who believe that democracy is something more than an empty word will campaign for one.